This One Time in the Danger Room
by cloudyailin
Summary: Logan decides to veer away from the usual training activities for a day.


_Set sometime after X3_

-000-

Logan looked over the exhausted faces in front of him and frowned. He leaned towards Kitty, "Why is everyone so tired?"

"Exams. And they're more stressed than tired, I think."

He noted that her face held that same hint of barely contained pressure, and he realized that they did not need a typical training session today. "Listen up, everyone! I was going to save this for a special occasion, but I think we need it right about now."

Logan went to storage closet and headed straight for the box he'd recently put in the back corner. He hauled it down the hallway and into the Danger Room. The students followed him with mutters of confusion and curiosity. "Computer, begin simulation one-five-five-eight."

"Simulation incomplete. Gaps in data found. Data required."

Logan scowled, offended by the computer's impudence. "Use data from simulation three-six-eight to fill in gaps."

"Computing." There was a pause. "Simulation prepared. Begin?"

"Begin."

The Danger Room shimmered as the holograph built up around them. Kitty's brow furrowed. They were in a grassy clearing in the woods, surrounded by huge, old trees. Birds chirped overhead. A river burbled somewhere. The day was cool and bright. There was just a touch of wind which kept the leaves overhead moving and the dappled shadows on the ground flickering. The trees weren't so closed in to feel oppressive, but had a bit of space in between them. To one side of the clearing, there was a small playground with slides, a swingset, and a wooden tower. It was absolutely beautiful.

More importantly, there were no monsters. There was no one in sight. It was usually easy to tell when Logan chose a simulation. Either it was straightforward - there's the bad guys, go kill them - or it was frightening. The frightening ones were meant to terrify the participants, throw them off, teach them to adapt and find their courage.

Kitty glanced at Logan in confusion. Beautiful _and _empty was just not logical.

"There's no one in this simulation except us," he answered her unspoken question.

"We'll be fighting each other?" Piotr guessed.

"That's right. Like this." Logan yanked open the box.

Kitty didn't understand, but it was quickly made clear to her.

"Paintball!"

"Yes!"

"Whooo!"

Kitty fought the urge to giggle. Logan's surprise didn't particularly excite or please her; paintball wasn't her thing. The giggle was from a bubbling up of sudden amusement, most of it at Logan's expense, which was why she held it in.

Logan was so good at playing the gruff loner - sullen, arrogant, mean, and ignorant - that for many months the students had believed that it was all he was. But every time he went and did something like this, he was undoing all his acting in a big way. The students trusted him. Feared him, certainly. Gave him his space, absolutely. But they trusted him. And every little sign that he cared was just one more drop in the filling bucket.

Kitty kept her laughter down, but smiled.

Logan held his hand out for silence. "There will be rules. First, no powers. Second, everyone wears safety gear. I'm not getting chewed out for someone getting a paintball to the eye. Third, no head shots. Fourth, the purpose of this exercise is stress-relief. Each and every one of you will be picking up one of these paintball guns and shooting it. If shooting each other isn't enough for you, there is a target range around here somewhere and there is plenty of fake wildlife.

"The idea is to be able to go crazy, work out the kinks. That being said - what goes on here, stays here. Once you leave the Danger Room, you have to let it go. I'm not going to chastise anyone for being unsportsmanlike, so defend yourself with your paintball guns.

"Any arrangement you like. Two teams, three teams, free-for-all, bunkers, mobile, do it all. I would suggest going in rounds, but it's totally up to you. Everyone help each other get their gear on and learn how to use the equipment and have at it. I'm just going to be right here." He pointed at the big flat rock on his right which was bathed in gentle sunlight and clearly intended for resting. "Anyone hits me, they're dead."

Kitty grinned.

Logan didn't even have to look at her. "That goes double for you, Pryde!"


End file.
